In the photo above, NASA Glenn Engineers Michael Politi and Martin O'Toole work on the Combustion Integrated Rack. Part of the Fluids and Combustion Facility, this flight hardware is designed to support the long-term study of flames and their behavior in space. It will fly to the International Space Station, along with the Fluids Integrated Rack, in the summer of 2008.

The Combustion Integrated Rack contains most of the hardware and software necessary to conduct science experiments on the space station. It also provides power, environmental controls, data management and communications for the experiments.

Scientists could use the rack to study fire prevention, detection and suppression, incineration of solid wastes, power generation, flame spread and other phenomenon.